


don't take my sunshine

by inkedinserendipity, ruffboi



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Memory Related, Sequel to someone Else's fic, Soulmate AU, fixing angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 10:44:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14134434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkedinserendipity/pseuds/inkedinserendipity, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruffboi/pseuds/ruffboi
Summary: Once upon a time, Taako had a soulmate.  Wonderland took that away from him.Twenty years later, Lup's finally going to get it back.





	don't take my sunshine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkedinserendipity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkedinserendipity/gifts).



> So this is entirely written by me, Mags (ruffboi), but it's a fix to two [Big](https://inkedinserendipity.tumblr.com/post/172152048474/youll-never-know-dear) [Hit](https://inkedinserendipity.tumblr.com/post/172155360420/when-i-awoke-dear) tumblr fics that Seren wrote, so like hell I'm not giving her credit for that. Also, you'll need to read those before you read this, or this won't make any damn sense.
> 
> I wasn't originally expecting it to be almost entirely devoid of Taako and Kravitz, but here we are. Enjoy, and go like and reblog Seren's fics on tumblr!

"We can't fix this," Istus had said, eyes wide and face ashen. She repeated it again to Lup when the very angry lich had confronted her.

"You're supposed to control fate!" Lup shouted, voice cracking. "Just  _ undo it _ !"

"I'm so sorry," Istus murmured, hands unnaturally still and silent in her lap.  "But destruction this complete… it  _ can't _ be undone."

Lup had stormed out then, not wanting to  _ completely _ lose her temper at a goddess who wasn't even at fault. Istus said there was nothing to be done. The Raven Queen agreed.

Well. They'd clearly never succeeded at doing the impossible. Lup had; this world's very survival was proof enough of that.  It took her time, though, to fill in the gaps in her knowledge, to find enough information about the Wonderland liches without asking Kravitz (as that seemed cruel).  Still, she made progress, and eventually,  _ finally _ , she was ready to start working in earnest.

"I need you to make excuses for me," Lup told Barry before they headed into work one day.  "I have snooping to do."

"Sure, babe," Barry said, as unfazed as if she'd mentioned they needed to pick up milk on the way back home. (Less, really, considering his allergy.)  "Sickness or family emergency?"

"Do you think he'd  _ buy _ sickness?" Lup mused, tapping a finger to her lips.  Barry shrugged. "Nah, just tell him Taako needed me, it'll keep him from snooping on  _ me _ and has the benefit of being technically true."

"Gotcha." Barry stood and kissed her cheek. "Let me know how it goes."

She gave Barry half an hour to get Kravitz out to do the day's field work, then let herself into the Eternal Stockade.  The male elf, Edward, was gone of course — and Lup was still damn proud of that. But his sister  _ Lydia _ … Lup knew exactly who she was now — Lydia was still knocking around, apparently crying over her fate and her lost brother, feeling sorry for herself.

Not sorry enough, in Lup's opinion.

"Wakey-wakey, Lyds!" Lup announced, rattling the door to Lydia's cell. It was kind of cute how Krav and the Queen were so sold on this  _ actual _ prison, instead of just containing the formless souls somewhere miserable. Cute and a bit disturbing, but that was Lup's  _ jam _ .

Lydia came to the bars and all but snarled at Lup when she say her. " _ YOU! _ It's your fault I'm here! Your  _ stupid _ umbrella—"

"Well, first of all," Lup interrupted calmly, "It's actually  _ your _ fault you're here, that's the whole point.  Secondly, I believe you're actually thinking of my twin brother Taako."  She leaned in close to the bars and smiled, baring far too many teeth. " _ I'm _ the one who was trapped in the umbrella and tore your brother's soul to shreds for what you did."

Lydia, wisely, pulled back from the door with a gulp. "What… what do you want?"

"I want you to tell me  _ everything _ about how and why you took people's soulmates from them."  Lup smiled even wider. "Leave  _ nothing _ out."

* * *

Lydia was surprisingly forthcoming, especially considering what Lup did to her brother. Then again, Lup pondered, maybe it was  _ because _ of what Lup had done to her brother. Liches, she'd found in the couple of decades she'd spent as a Reaper, were often far more terrified of oblivion than pain or death.

The souls hadn't been destroyed as completely as Edward had, according to Lydia, just the bond between the fragments had been destroyed, and the stolen fragment mutilated and kept to help power the machine that was Wonderland.  What had happened to them after Wonderland's destruction, however, Lydia couldn't say.

"Maybe they came here?" she suggested nervously. "I really don't know, I swear."

"Shut up," Lup snapped. "Don't cause trouble or I'll be back," she added as she stalked away. Lup was a little at a loss. She could poke through Kravitz's files, but he might not  _ have _ anything, and there was no way of telling when he'd be back today.  Better to  _ not _ get caught digging through her supervisor's things if she didn't have to.

So her options, if she didn't want to put this off again (and she very much did not, it had already been twenty years and that was long e-fucking-nough), were to wander around the entirety of the astral plane hoping to find something, or dig through Krav's stuff and hope they'd had an unreasonably busy day.  Neither option was very appealing.

As she mulled over her options, a soft pull tugged at something within her, and she straightened herself up, a raven feather fluttering out of her hair as she combed her fingers through it, scythe already out to answer her Queen's summons.

Yeah. That could work, too.

"Hey, Big Mama!"  Lup always reveled in the soft rustling laugh that nickname provoked from the Raven Queen, even when Kravitz wasn't there to be scandalized. ("Look, obviously you can't take this job  _ too  _ seriously, you have to have a little fun with golems or whatever," he'd say, "but she's a  _ goddess _ !")

"You've been haranguing one of the prisoners, little spark."

Lup was torn between pride and embarrassment - of  _ course _ the Raven Queen was aware she'd done that.  She'd known it was likely, and she didn't mind because frankly Lydia deserved it.  But getting called out on it was  _ very _ uncomfortable.  

"It was really more mild interrogation," Lup protested.

"Did you learn what you hoped to?"

"Some of it."  Lup hesitated — even as close as she'd become to the Queen, she tried not to ask for actually  _ substantial _ favors from her goddess.

"You can ask, little spark," the Raven Queen prompted, a hint of a smile in her voice.

"Right." Lup paused to draw her thoughts together.  "What happens to…  _ broken _ souls, if they're not completely destroyed?"

"The soul fragments from Wonderland," the Raven Queen said, her voice rumbling ominously.  Lup was glad she'd learned when to tell if the Queen was mad at her or something else, or that would be… terrifying. "Yes, they are here. They are called to this place, as all souls are, and I keep them safe until the rest of their soul joins the sea."  She sighed deeply. "This is not the first time someone has…. stolen this."

It was strange that Lup was so relieved to hear that. At least one day her brother would be whole again, even if it wouldn't be until he was dead.

_ If _ she failed, that is.  And she wasn't going to.

"If I promise not to hurt them, can I see them" Lup asked hopefully, pulling out all the stops on her puppy dog eyes.  "Just… see if I can learn anything from them?" She was  _ great _ at getting her way with the Raven Queen when she wanted to.  It was just usually for smaller, more ridiculous things.

"No," the Raven Queen said.  Lup deflated somewhat, shoulders slumping.

"I see."  She could still  _ try  _ to find them, but even Lup was loathe to go against direct instructions in a situation like this.

"I have a job for you outside your normal purview, however, that may keep you occupied."  Lup nodded, disappointed but curious. "It has long vexed me that certain magics can damage and even destroy the soul's bond that binds two beings inexorably together, and that neither fate nor the keeper of souls could rectify such a situation."

"Mama?" Lup asked, frowning.

"You, little spark, have done many impossible things." She cocked her head, bird-like, and Lup understood in a rush of excitement and gratitude. "Perhaps if anyone can do  _ this _ impossible thing, it is you."

" _ Just _ me?"  Lup all but bounced on the balls of her feet, eager to get started.

"You may seek what assistance you require."  The Queen paused, then added, "If you and your Barold could refrain from giving my head reaper  _ too _ many conniptions, I'd greatly appreciate it."

Lup couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Kravitz didn't need to know until she had a plan. Right now, she didn't have one, she just had  _ research _ to do.  Which was why she (very apologetically) informed Kravitz that she was working something  _ very _ confidential at the Raven Queen's request, then stole Barry while Kravitz tried to figure out if she was full of bullshit.

"We're gonna fix Taako," she told her husband as she led the way to where the Raven Queen had indicated the soul fragments were kept.  

"Tall order," Barry commented.  Lup smacked his arm lightly. 

"The  _ Kravitz _ thing," she clarified.  Barry immediately shifted from teasing to intent, leaning in as they walked, his focus lasered in on her.

"Tell me."

* * *

The broken souls were both heartbreaking and terrifying.

Some were recognizable, though damaged - an iris missing petals, a sewn doll with frayed seams and missing hair.  Most were all but unidentifiable, though, faintly glowing twists of souls ripped into until they barely have enough form to stay in one piece.

"Holy shit," Barry whispered, horrified and awed.  "I knew they'd been doing this, but—" His jaw clenched, and Lup reached out to squeeze his hand.

" _ You _ didn't do this," she murmured.  He smiled faintly at her and squeezed back.  

"Thanks."  He looked back out at the souls, drifting through the air.  "Are these  _ all _ from Wonderland?"

"No," Lup said.  "Most of them are, though."

"Think you'll be able to find Taako's?"

Lup looked out at the aimlessly drifting fragments of souls.  There were so many.  _ So many _ . 

(It made her want to march back to Lydia's cell and drag her here by her ear, and somehow make her feel the pain of  _ each one _ of those losses.  She was the one whose relic could consume entire cities in a moment of rage.  She was no stranger to the burning in her veins that called for vengeance.

She took a deep breath, and let it pass.)

"Well," she said, rolling her shoulders, "don't know until I try!"

It took longer than she'd expected.  The souls weren't full beings, the way the souls in the sea were, but they still had…  _ something _ .  Lup couldn't quite put a word to it.  Emotions, maybe. They carried the hurt, the trauma, the loneliness that the people who'd lost them couldn't feel.  And those emotions were the only way they had to communicate, to reach out to try to find the rest of themselves, to find  _ comfort _ .

Lup spent the better part of three hours gently and slowly twisting through the room, doing her best to exude safety and comfort and compassion.  She got through half, maybe. She hadn't found Taako. Probably.

Barry took a more scientific approach, of course.  He looked at each one individually, taking notes. He tried to see if there was anything he knew of from over a century of study, from so so many different worlds with different magics, that could help strengthen or repair them.  He looked up from one tattered rag of a soul fragment to see Lup wobble on her feet and shook his head.

"Lup, it's time for a break," he called out.

"I haven't  _ found _ him yet!" she protested, fists balled up, eyelashes clumped together from mostly-unshed tears.  Barry pushed himself to his feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her into an embrace.

"You can't help him if you run yourself ragged," he pointed out, tugging her to the side of the room and pushing her down to sit on the ground.  He dropped down next to her, letting her immediately lean against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"This is pointless.  They're all miserable and broken and how the fuck are we supposed to put them back together?"  Lup took a few shaky breaths. "What if I was wrong, Bear? What if I can't help him?"

"You just need some space to think," Barry said, rubbing her back gently.  He started to say more, but a new soul fragment drifted in, catching his attention.  It was mostly whole, except for the fact that it had been excised from the soul it belonged to.  It was shaped like a small animal - long-bodied, with big eyes and small round ears - and it was damaged as if it had been stabbed in the stomach.  "Holy shit."

"What?" Lup looked up, following his line of sight, and gasped softly at the sight of the little creature.  "Holy  _ shit _ ."  She stood up quickly and reached out to cup the little shape in her hands, cradling it to her chest.  "It's a fucking  _ mongoose _ ."

* * *

They took the mongoose soul home in a specialized container Barry dug up from somewhere, because it was new, and it was a mongoose, and it was twenty years since the Day of Story and Song and Lup had a sinking suspicion she knew where it had come from and she didn't want to lose track of it.

"This is bad," Barry said, staring into the jar as Lup dug her stone of farspeech out, calling up one of her speed dials.  

"We don't know it's him," she said as the stone connected.  "Hey, Krav!"

"Lup?" Kravitz's voice crackled through the stone's speakerphone.  "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," Lup answered, lying through her teeth with a pained smile so she would sound upbeat over the stone.  "I just wanted to let you know everything went fine with Taako earlier."

"Ah," Kravitz said.  There was a long pause.  Lup held her breath, praying he wouldn't ask the question she expected.  "Who's that?"

"Just a friend, don't worry about it, okay bye!"  Lup hung up and threw her stone at the sofa. " _ FUCK! _ This is bad.  This is my fault.  I could've told him what I was doing and then maybe he wouldn't have done such a  _ stupid _ —"

Barry let her pace and rant for a while; he always knew when she needed to vent or needed to be soothed, and she loved him  _ so _ much for it.  She finally wound down after a few minutes and slid into the seat at the kitchen table next to him.

"What do we do?" She asked after a moment.  Barry considered it. 

"Well, we've got to find a fragment that is Kravitz as much as this," he patted the jar gently, "is Taako.  Then…" He shrugged. "I don't know. But we'll come up with something. In the meantime, you're exhausted and I can't do any more on my notes until I get some books from work, so how about I order some takeout and we'll have a night in?"

"Yeah," Lup said with a faint smile.  "Sounds good to me."

* * *

They had a few busy days after that, doing their usual gig - people had mostly stopped becoming liches and doing necromancy around the anniversary, but there were still a few dumbasses out there causing trouble.  (It was a little surreal, to Lup, to work with Kravitz and know she had part of his  _ soul _ in a jar on her kitchen table.)

Then, a slow day, one that Kravitz could handle alone, and she stole Barry off to the chamber of soul fragments, jar in hand.

"What if we just… let it out and see if it likes one of the other fragments?" She suggested, staring out at the faintly glowing sea of fragments floating in the air.

"That could work," Barry said.

"You think?" she asked, actually a little surprised, because she figured it was kind of a dumb idea.  Barry chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Well, uh, I don't have any  _ better _ ideas, so might as well, right?"

Lup laughed and kissed his cheek before opening the jar, allowing the little soul-mongoose to drift up and out.  "Go on, little dude, go find Kravitz."

To Lup's absolute delight, it slowly started to move into the mass of fragments, not drifting aimlessly like the rest of them, but moving straight as an arrow.  A very very slow, injured-mongoose-shaped arrow. She followed it almost all the way across the chamber, Barry trailing behind her scribbling notes as quickly as he can.  Eventually it slowed and stopped, hovering just near a fluttering, badly-damaged fragment that Lup can't quite discern the shape of.

The glow that both fragments give off brightens, just slightly, and the mongoose curls around the other shape, which starts to pull itself back together into the shape of a single feather. 

" _ Yes! _ " Lup whisper-yelled, somehow feeling like being too loud would disturb them, even though the souls had thus far shown no sign of noticing any sounds they'd made.  "Bear,  _ look _ !"

"I see," Barry responded in equally hushed tones as he scribbled furiously.  "This is  _ amazing _ !"

"Yeah, and also we can  _ fix Taako and Kravitz _ now."

"Oh."  Barry stopped taking notes long enough to look sheepish, the hushed tone falling away.  "That too, yes."

"You're such a nerd," Lup said with a fond smile.  "So that's  _ half _ of the problem solved.  Or at least, half of the problem if both parties have their souls mutilated, but whatever, it's still progress."

"Re-binding them to Taako and Kravitz's souls is going to be the hard part, though," Barry pointed out.  "The Raven Queen knew Taako's fragment was here, it's just that she and Istus couldn't do anything to put it back."

Lup blinked.  "What did you say?"

"Uh…" Barry frowned down at his notes as if they held the answer.  Which, to be fair, they might. "Re-binding them is going to be hard?"  A wide grin slowly spread across Lup's face. Barry was  _ almost _ worried - that grin usually meant trouble. "What are you thinking?"

"Who do we know, darling," she said, "who knows probably more than anyone else in creation about  _ bonds _ ?"

Realization dawned, and Barry found himself grinning, too.  "Let's give him a call, then."

* * *

"Well, I have no idea if it'll work," Davenport said, leaning against the railing of his ship after Barry and Lup finished explaining their plan.  "But sure, I'll swing by and park her… where, you think, by Magnus and Lucretia's place?"

"There's family dinner next weekend," Lup agreed, nodding.  "So Taako should be there, and I'm pretty sure we can get Kravitz there with some effort."

"Thanks, Cap," Barry added.

"Don't mention it," Davenport chuckled, and patted the ring that encircled the stern of the ship, glowing faintly.  The glow pulsed a bit as he did, a whirring hum rising almost like a purr. "I didn't build this baby just to turn down my family when they need our help."

* * *

"We're having family dinner tomorrow and you're coming," Lup declared to Kravitz the next week.  Kravitz looked both confused and concerned by her statement.

"Uh," he said.  "Why?"

"Because we want you to," Lup responded, sitting on the edge of his desk.  "You're practically family to me'n Barry, we talk about you a lot, everyone's liked you the times you've met them."  She smiled innocently. "Also because Big Mama says you have to."

The Raven Queen had been distressed by the revelation that Kravitz had cut apart his own soul, and when Lup had asked if she could order Kravitz to go to the family dinner and soul repair party, she'd said yes almost before Lup was done explaining.

Kravitz grimaced — though whether at the order or the nickname, Lup couldn't tell.  Probably both. "Ah," he said. "I see."

"You're gonna go ask her, aren't you?" Lup asked.  Kravitz raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously.  It's entirely within the realm of possibility that you'd decide to fake it just to get me to come to your social event at which I will be  _ exceedingly _ out of place."

"Okay, cool, see you in a couple hours!" Lup sing-songed, hopping off his desk.  "At Magnus's house, don't be late!"

Right before she stepped through the portal to said house, she heard Kravitz sigh. She laughed brightly and closed the portal behind her. 

This was going to work. She was as sure of it as she was of her love for Barry, her familiarity with Taako. Once they’d gotten Davenport on board, Lup and Barry had gone to bounce it off Lucretia, to see if she knew anything else that might affect the bond engine. She’d called in Angus and (after some dubious discussion) Lucas as well. Over the course of about three days, they went over every imaginable outcome, formulating equations and magical theory based on what they knew of souls, soulmates, and bonds. The possible results (depending on a number of factors they just didn’t have answers for) ranged from nothing happening to full success to everyone exploding. 

(Explosions were unlikely and not expected, but Lucretia and Angus rightly argued that almost anything Lup or Lucas were involved in had at least a  _ small  _ chance of exploding, and neither of them could really disprove that, so it was in the list.)

Taako was showing off in the kitchen for some of Angus’s most recently acquired stray kids who were here despite Lup’s insistence this was a family-only affair, if only because of the potential drama. 

“They don’t have anywhere else to go,” Angus said (firmly, not plaintively as he would’ve once), and that was that. It wasn’t like Lup was great at saying no to the kid even when he  _ didn’t  _ make a compelling argument. 

Lup caught Barry’s eye from across the room, careful to try to stay out of Taako’s line of sight. Barry casually got up, his satchel in hand, and strolled over to the living room. 

“You’ve got both fragments?” Lup asked, voice soft despite the cacophony in the kitchen that would certainly drown out even a loud conversation. 

Barry hefted his bag. “Both in shatterproof jars. Is Kravitz coming?”

“Checking with Mama first, but she’s on our side, so he’ll be here.” Lup bounced on the balls of her feet and ran a hand through her hair, looking over at where Davenport’s new ship with its new (and purportedly improved) bond engine was parked. “This is gonna work,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel.

“It’s gonna work,” Barry agreed, and his calm certainty was just the buoy Lup needed to keep herself from descending into anxious pessimism. She was a fuckin  _ baller  _ evocation wizard, but while she was more than passable at necromancy these days, Barry was the one of them that really  _ got _ things like souls, death, and the like. If he was sure, that was good enough for her. 

The time Lup had asked Kravitz to come was actually just after she guessed they’d be done eating, mostly because trying to deal with dragging Taako away from the kitchen was more work than even she was willing to put out.  She timed it nearly perfectly, too, with the polite knock coming while Taako was in the middle of ordering Angus’ kids around while they did the dishes.   
  
“Exactly on time,” she said with a chuckle as she opened the door.  “And with a bottle of  _ wine _ .  Why am I not surprised?”   
  
“It’s… polite…” Kravitz hesitated, and looked down at the bottle in his hands.  “Is this not a thing people do anymore?”   
  
“Oh, no, you’re fine, I’m just teasing you,” Lup assured him, taking the wine and setting it on the side table near the door.  Then she grabbed Barry’s bag from where it hung on a coat hook and shouted over her shoulder. “ _ Babe _ ! Ship time!”   
  
“Okay!” Barry’s voice filtered back from the dining room.  Kravitz had started to follow her a bit inside, and seemed startled when she turned him around and propelled him out the door.   
  
“Lup, what—”   
  
“We’ve got something to show you before you come in and subject yourself to the madness.” Lup said lightly as they moved towards the Cloudblaster.  “Angus has three new kids this time, and Magnus and Taako are being  _ horrible  _ influences, as always.”   
  
“Uh,” Kravitz responded.  “Right.”   
  
Lup parked him just next to the ring of the bond engine, which hummed softly even as it idled.  One really good thing about bond engines, Lup had discovered over the decades, was that since they literally ran on bonds, they never needed to be turned on or off.  Which meant that as soon as they got started, the engine would be ready.   
  
“Cool, just… stay here for a minute, okay?” Lup said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.  Kravitz frowned, and she hastily added, “I promise it’s nothing bad, it just needs a little preparation.”   
  
“Okay, sure,” Kravitz agreed, reluctantly, and Lup hopped over the railing and onto the deck itself, where she and Barry had stashed everything but the souls themselves.  It wasn’t much, just a chalk circle to try to help focus their energy into the engine, and some incense because it couldn’t hurt to say a prayer before trying it. She was up there touching up a few smudges on the circle when she heard Barry and Taako approaching.   
  
“Barry, I swear to god, if you and Lup found some fuckin  _ goth  _ to set me up with—” Taako was protesting, but it was clear he was curious about what was going on by how he let Barry maneuver him into place next to Kravitz.   
  
Lup put the finishing touches on the circle, then stood, reached into the bag, and pulled out two jars, glowing softly.   
  
“Hey Kravitz!” she called, and (when he looked up) none-too-gently lobbed one of the jars at his head.  “You lost this, loser!”   
  
Kravitz yelped and tried to duck, but still got grazed by the magically-reinforced jar.  “What the  _ fuck _ !” he yelped.  The glow inside pulsed slightly.  Lup flashed a grin and hopped down, handing the other jar to Taako, who was looking rather bemused.   
  
“I asked myself the same thing when I saw it,” she told Kravitz.  “You’re a dumbass and you’re lucky we love you so much.”   
  
“Uh… so goth  _ coworker _ ?” Taako hazarded.  “Granted, where you two work, I’m not exactly surprised…” he trailed off as he opened his jar, the still-ruffled but otherwise restored feather-shaped soul fragment drifting out.  “Ooookay, definitely not what I expected to be in that jar.”   
  
“Is that a soul?” Kravitz asked, sounding horrified.   
  
“Open yours and find out, Bone Boy,” Lup said.  Barry was already out of sight, starting to power up the bond engine, which hummed behind them.  “I promise, if this works, you’re gonna thank me.”   
  
Kravitz opened his, the little mongoose floating up and out of the jar to press against his chest, its glow brightening.  Taako didn’t even seem to notice, so enraptured he was by the feather cupped in his hands. Behind them, unheeded, the bond engine hummed, then whirred, the bright glow of it growing by the moment.  Lup focused inward, on the bonds she shared with these two dumbasses, and how strong they were, and how they were weakened with their bonds with each other broken. Power and purpose were the two most important components of any arcane working.  Barry was, through the bond engine, providing the power. What Lup had to do was give that power a purpose, and convince an inanimate object that ran on the very essence that holds everything together that it wanted to mend the broken souls in front of it.  

For a long, heart-stopping moment, nothing happened. Lup held her breath, eyes fixed on Taako, willing the universe to make this  _ right _ .

And then, so slender and faint she almost missed it, a tendril reached out from the bond engine to wrap around Taako.  And then another, and another. Lup finally tore her gaze away from Taako long enough to verify that Kravitz, too, was being wrapped in tendrils of light.

"Is, uh.  Is this supposed to be happening?" Kravitz asked, voice pitched high and slightly reedy, like it got when he was nervous.

" _ Yes! _ " Lup exclaimed, grin widening as the tendrils started sprouting from the boys themselves, feeding in on the souls in front of them and each other, faster and faster becoming a solid mass of white light. 

"What did you  _ do _ ?" Taako asked, but then she couldn't look at them anymore and the sound of the engine's workings were deafening and for a moment she worried it had all gone wrong and it was going to explode after all, and then— 

Then it was over.  The engine slowed and fell silent, the bright light dimmed, the bonds becoming invisible again, and when her vision cleared, Taako and Kravitz were facing each other, no sign of the souls they'd held when they began.

"Holy fuck," Taako whispered.  He tore his eyes away from Kravitz, and missed what Lup didn't - Kravitz's face crumpling in pain and disappointment.  The dumbass still thought Taako would forget him again. "Lup,  _ holy fuck! _ "

"I know, right?" Lup all but shrieked, and descended upon them to pull them both into tight hugs, her arms around their necks.  Kravitz stiffened and didn't seem to know how to handle the outpouring of affection (or anything else, for that matter), but Taako whooped and pulled her grip off her fellow reaper to swing her around happily.

"This is fucking  _ amazing _ !" Taako put her back down as Barry dropped from the deck, patting poor confused Kravitz's shoulder in a comforting fashion.  "Lulu… you need to fuck off, 'cause ch'boy's got like  _ two decades worth _ of makeouts to catch up on."

Lup laughed, kissed Taako's cheek, and waved Barry over as she headed for the house.  Her work here was done, finally. 

The last thing she saw, glancing over her shoulder before the Cloudblaster was blocked by the trees, was Kravitz's face lighting up in joy and understanding as Taako launched himself into his soulmate's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to hit up the author on tumblr at [ruffboijuliaburnsides](http://ruffboijuliaburnsides.tumblr.com) and the inspiration at [inkedinserendipity](http://inkedinserendipity.tumblr.com). 
> 
> Thank you, as always, to the Ducks for your eternal support.


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